Skype, the pioneering online video calling service established in 2003, is taken offline for good by Microsoft.
Skype, founded in 2003 by a group of engineers in Tallinn, Estonia, Skype was a pioneer in making telephone calls using the internet instead of landlines. In 2005, eBay purchased Skype for $2.6 billion. eBay then sold its controlling interest to a group of investors in 2009, who in turn sold the video calling service to Microsoft.